In Woodcliff Lake, at the corner of Pascack and Church Roads, Christ Lutheran Church is known for Sunday worship shaped by both traditional Lutheran music and Christian rock, a garden that supplies fresh food to a local pantry, and ministries that connect worship with care for children, older adults, people facing hunger and families affected by Alzheimer's and dementia. At 32 Pascack Road, the congregation gathers for services at 9:00 and 10:30 a.m. and also offers a livestream for those unable to attend in person.
Two Sunday Services, with Room for Every Generation
Sunday worship takes place at 32 Pascack Road in Woodcliff Lake, at the corner of Church Road and Pascack. The complete service, including music, songs, prayers and responses, is printed in the worship bulletin. Parts set in bold invite the congregation to speak aloud, allowing people to participate fully whether they have attended for decades or are new to Christian worship and to Christ Lutheran Church.
- Two Sunday gatherings: Services begin at 9:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
- Holy Communion: The sacrament is celebrated in person on Sunday, and participation is open to all who wish to commune. Instructions appear in the bulletin.
- Music and spoken responses: The service includes congregational singing, prayers, readings, and music from the church's organ, piano, guitars, flutes, and other instruments.
- Large-print bulletins: Copies are available for people who are visually impaired.
For people who cannot enter the building, worship is livestreamed through Facebook and YouTube, and the recordings remain available for later viewing. A sermon archive holds 296 recordings arranged in ten collections, giving worshippers and visitors a substantial collection of messages to explore.
Children Are Full Members of the Congregation
The church asks families to bring children of every age, from newborns and toddlers through preschool and high school, and to keep them in the service for the whole gathering. Children are expected to be children: they may talk, wander, shout or cry, and the congregation does not ask them to be quiet or still. The teaching is that children learn church by being present in it. Elementary students serve as readers and offering collectors, Confirmation students help with candles and Communion, and youth also lead worship and preach.
Christ Lutheran reflects the diversity of Northern Bergen County. People of all races, cultures, colors, ages, backgrounds and abilities are part of its life, as are young families, older adults, single people, widows, immigrants and long-time New Jersey residents. Those who are not Lutheran, have not attended church in a long time, or are unsure about their faith are expressly welcomed. The congregation's approach is one of Christian faith shared without requiring every visitor to arrive with the same background or certainty.
Learning Together from Three Through Confirmation
Sunday School meets twice a month on Sundays during the school year, generally from fall through the middle of May. One large-group class welcomes children from age 3 through sixth grade. The church's education work explores prayer and what it means to pray for the congregation, the nation and all creation, while connecting classroom learning with service projects.
Confirmation is a two-year educational ministry for baptized seventh- and eighth-graders. Classes include Bible reading and reflection, and students share the experience with a pastor, volunteers and peers. Service projects and time together support a public profession of faith called Affirmation of Baptism. Christ Lutheran presents Confirmation as more than a membership class: it is a way for young people to identify with the church and their own faith as members of God's family.
Ancient Hymns and Christian Rock in One Worship Tradition
Music and singing are central to how the congregation worships. Christ Lutheran embraces its Lutheran tradition of song while also making room for a broad range of instruments and styles. Ancient hymns and a masterful organ share space with beautiful pianos, guitars, flutes and Christian rock. The mix reflects a blended worship tradition and gives music a role in proclaiming and sharing God's love.
Director of Music Argine Safari leads the volunteer Chancel Choir and works with the congregation on music for worship. David Scance serves as Director of Contemporary Music, Sunday School Music and Children Choirs, and musicians are invited to add their abilities to services. This ministry also reaches beyond the congregation: Safari has led a joint choir drawn from many faith communities at the annual Upper Pascack Valley interfaith Thanksgiving service.
Music also helps people participate remotely. Lyric words appear on screen during online worship, while the complete printed service lets people sing, respond and follow along in person. The result is not a single prescribed sound but a congregation using hymn, organ, contemporary song and instrumental skill to serve the words and prayers of worship.
Genesis Garden, Growing Since 1984
Genesis Garden began in 1984 when former intern Craig Moorman looked from his office window at an empty area and imagined a vegetable garden. Care Committee chair Doris Crouse formed a garden committee, and ground was broken on November 18, 1984. Bob VanZee started plants under fluorescent lights in his basement in 1985, while local garden centers helped supply additional plants at wholesale prices. Joan and Carl Palermo led the garden through its first years.
Many volunteers, young and old, now plant, weed and harvest the produce. Since 2021, the harvest has gone to the Tri-Boro Food Pantry in Park Ridge. Seasonal yields have ranged from about 600 to 1,750 pounds, with most years producing more than 1,000 pounds of fresh vegetables. The garden turns a once-bare piece of church property into a direct response to hunger while giving people of every age a shared way to serve.
Food, Shelter, and Partnerships That Reach Further
Food insecurity is one of the clearest expressions of the church's mission. Each week, members collect food, cleaning supplies and other goods for the Center for Food Action's pantry. Seasonal and one-day service projects have supplied fortified meals and weekend snack packs for elementary students, school kits, grocery bags for older adults, and frozen turkeys and canned goods for families. The church also directs a regular share of its offerings to organizations such as Lutheran World Relief.
- Center for Food Action: The partnership supports a pantry that provides emergency meals and assistance to people experiencing hunger and homelessness in Bergen County. The congregation contributes food and cleaning supplies each week, organizes a Souper Bowl of Caring, supports service projects that prepare meals and snack packs, and provides financial gifts.
- Tri-Boro Food Pantry: The pantry in Park Ridge distributes meals, cleaning supplies, food and other material needs. Genesis Garden provides fresh produce, while CLC contributes money, food and volunteer support.
- Meals on Wheels of North Jersey: The organization has offices at Christ Lutheran, and church members regularly deliver meals to the people it serves. The congregation also provides financial support.
- Church World Service and Lutheran relief: The church supports the annual Crop Walk, assembles school-supply kits and sends blankets to communities affected by disasters. Contributions to Lutheran Disaster Response have supported work connected with Nepal, the Philippines and the Caribbean.
- Upper Pascack Valley Interfaith Council: Since 1970, Christ Lutheran has joined local Jewish and Christian communities for annual Thanksgiving worship, a shared meal and a common witness. Leaders from Conservative, Reform, Catholic, Episcopal, Methodist, Reformed, UCC and Lutheran communities also meet monthly.
Special gifts and the Ricci Fund add another channel for service. Created in 2009 after Dominick Ricci's death, the fund directs gifts approved by the congregation toward projects that combat hunger, support local and international organizations, strengthen ministry and improve the church property. Its charter requires at least 10 percent of each gift to support outreach or benevolence, another portion to fund congregational ministries, and a portion for capital improvements or asset replacement. Those improvements have included a new parking lot, a new roof, renovated bathrooms, an updated entrance and a rebuilt community garden.
Distributions have supported the ELCA World Hunger appeal, Center for Food Action, Lutheran World Relief, local food pantries, Meals on Wheels and Lutheran Social Ministries of New Jersey. Other gifts have aided Camp Koinonia, Shelter Our Sisters, the Community Counseling Center of the Pascack Valley, Community Hospice of Bergen County and international disaster relief. Contributions have also funded Bible teaching, youth service projects, retreats, Sunday School programs, guest musicians and special music for Easter and Christmas.
Care for Illness, Loss, and Older Adults
The Care Committee carries out a varied ministry of practical care. A prayer chain offers daily prayer for the church family and families in need, and committee members provide meals to people who need assistance. They play Bingo with residents of Lakeside Waterfront Home, organize a Christmas gathering there, send get-well, encouragement and sympathy cards, and organize fruit and candy baskets for shut-ins and seniors at Christmas and Easter. Once each year, volunteers plan, prepare and serve a meal for people experiencing homelessness at a facility in Hackensack. The committee can also host a funeral repast in the Opsal Room for members and make the Opsal Fellowship Hall available for nonmembers, with help for setup, serving and cleanup.
Since beginning regular education on Alzheimer's and dementia, Christ Lutheran has offered conversations about warning signs, behaviors, finances, independence, brain health and clinical trials. A Caregiver Coffee Break gathers monthly on Saturday at 10 a.m. for people to share their stories and realize they are not facing the illness alone. Coffee and light refreshments accompany the gathering. The church also hosts an annual summer blessing of animals, with a photo accepted for a pet that cannot comfortably attend.
From a Five-Acre Apple Orchard to an ELCA Congregation
In 1958, a small group of Lutherans led by Pastor James Opsal purchased a five-acre apple orchard at the corner of Pascack and Dam Roads. A 200-year-old Dutch farmhouse stood on the property and was said to have been a stop on the Underground Railroad for enslaved people seeking freedom. Dam Road became Church Road in 1959. The congregation's first services were held in the Woodcliff Lake school, and support from Trinity Lutheran Church in Brooklyn made it possible to break ground in October 1958. The building complex expanded until the main sanctuary was completed and dedicated on October 11, 1970.
Christ Lutheran is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States. Pastor Marc A. Stutzel was installed as its sixth pastor in 2014. Marc grew up outside Denver, earned a degree in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering at Cornell University, and worked as a freelance web designer, developer and consultant in New York City before entering ministry. He completed his first seminary year at the Lutheran Seminary in Philadelphia and then earned a Master of Divinity at the General Theological Seminary in New York. At Advent Lutheran Church in New York City, he served as Director of Youth and Family Ministries and Director of Communications. As a delegate to the 2013 Churchwide Assembly, he supported an amendment raising $4 million for youth and young-adult ministry. He also co-developed the Sower's Project with the Metropolitan New York Synod. His community roles include treasurer of the Tri-Boro Food Pantry, chair of the Upper Pascack Valley Interfaith Clergy Group, a board member of the Community Counseling Center of the Pascack Valley, and service on the New Jersey Synod's Communications and Candidacy committees. His ministry centers on telling stories of Jesus, God, people and God's work, with the emphases that Jesus is present, God is with us and everyone's story matters.
A Shared Mission of Worship, Learning, and Care
The mission has guided Christ Lutheran since the early 2000s. It defines the congregation as people of God and connects worship with formation, hospitality and service. The congregation does not claim to have every answer, but holds that the journey God has given is important and is undertaken together.
- Worship and teaching: Worship God, study God's Word, and communicate the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ.
- A place to gather: Provide facilities and pastoral leadership so people may share spiritual growth, worship, education, fellowship, joys and concerns.
- Hospitality and care: Offer hospitality and care to the congregation, the community and the world.
- Shared participation: Welcome every member, young and old, as an integral part of the body of Christ, with time, abilities and treasure to offer.
Giving, Rummage, and Work Done Together
CLC describes its financial philosophy simply: invest heavily in following Jesus Christ in Woodcliff Lake, surrounding towns, New Jersey and the world. The church's physical space is used for worship, faith formation and connection to the wider community, and its budget is intentionally lean so resources can respond to needs. Members can give through annual pledges, checks placed in offering envelopes, online giving, Thrivent Choice Dollars, and memorial or estate gifts. A portion of regular financial offerings supports organizations such as Lutheran World Relief.
Christ Lutheran Church Women, or CLCW, represents confirmed women and encourages them to grow in faith, support one another, engage in ministry and action, and promote healing and wholeness. The group organizes the annual Trash & Treasure Sale, usually held on the first Saturday in May, and everyone is welcome to help. Proceeds are not used for the church's operating budget; they support ministry locally and worldwide, including ELCA hunger and disaster appeals, the Tri-Boro Food Pantry, Center for Food Action, Meals on Wheels, school kits sent through Church World Service and Good Gifts work. Unsold clothing and other items are donated to charities. CLCW also directs money toward capital projects and holds an annual meeting on the second Sunday in January, beginning around 11:30 a.m. with a buffet lunch and continuing with ministry and budget planning.
From the sanctuary to Genesis Garden, from the choir to the Care Committee and the food pantry partnerships, Christ Lutheran's identity is found in these recurring practices. Worship, learning, music, hospitality and service are not separate parts of church life here. They form one shared vocation: to worship God, study his Word, welcome people into the body of Christ and put the gifts of the congregation to work for the community.